In general these coverings, for example, on the vehicle top or roof or on the doors of the vehicle, are in the form of panels of a foam material, for example, a polyurethane foam.
In order to be placed against the inner surface of the vehicle body, the covering panels currently have to be held in place by a robot or by hand to permit the operatives to fix them, for example, by means of the door handles, side holding handles at the top of each window, sun visors and other ceiling lights, which, in cooperation with holes in the panels, hold the covering panels against the body when the vehicle is in its finished state. Automobile vehicles today have more and more electronic systems and it consequently becomes more and more necessary to pass the electrical cables between the body and the covering panels.
Cables or even soundproofing accessories are already known which are stuck directly to the covering panels, for example, on the vehicle top or the door, and which can then no longer be repositioned. They can consequently not easily be removed and repositioned for maintenance or replacement.
The document DE 29821884 in the name of Lear describes a covering panel comprising over its whole face facing the vehicle top (directed towards the upper part of the vehicle) a fibrous material with bristles which are intended to cooperate with hooks to fix cables to this face.
The function of the hooked and bristled device consists in that case of positioning the cables on the upper face of the panel, between this panel and the vehicle top. The panel itself is fixed to the body by other fixing means, in particular screws, which are sufficiently strong to hold the panel on the body throughout the life of the car, and in particular to withstand jolts, sudden braking, etc. without become detached.
This manner of fixing the cables and the panel has the disadvantage that the cables are not fixed to the panel as well as the panel is fixed to the body. Thus the cables can easily tend to become detached as the vehicle moves, for example, after a jolt or untimely sudden braking. Similarly, when it is desired to mount the cables in advance on the panel and then to transport the panel with cables pre-mounted to the site where the panel is mounted on the body, expensive measures are required to ensure that cables pre-mounted on the panel do not become detached therefrom during the journey. Furthermore, when the components are mounted on the panel it is necessary to hold this panel with raised arms, the resistance to the panel with its components becoming unhooked from the body being insufficient until the panel has been fixed with screws.
The present invention aims to overcome these disadvantages by proposing a new type of panel which permits on the one hand the panel to be temporarily fixed to the body with sufficient force to resist unhooking because of the weight of the vehicle top fitted with all its components and consequently without it being necessary to hold the vehicle top with raised arms before it is finally fixed to the body by, for example, screw means, and on the other hand permits sufficient fixing of the components to the panel to be assured in order to resist jolts, sudden braking, etc., but to do so with the same ease of usage as in the prior art devices and in particular while retaining the advantage of being able to make a simple modification to the positioning of these components (cables, blocks, etc.).
Covering the whole surface of the vehicle top with, for example, a non-woven fabric, and its engagement in pre-positioned gripping elements on the structure of the vehicle does not permit, amongst other things, temporary holding of the vehicle top on the assembly line as an aid to mounting before final fixing. In fact, this application cannot be achieved with the non-woven fabrics generally used in the automobile. From the actual nature of these non-woven fabrics, which are generally composed of interlaced or needled fibres, the resistance to unhooking, in the perpendicular direction, of the non-woven fabric/gripping element combinations cannot bear the weight of a vehicle top fitted with all its components (cables, flat cables, soundproofing blocks made from foams of different densities, side airbags and other electronic components).
Most producers of vehicle tops offer automobile manufacturers vehicle tops pre-fitted with all their components (modules) so that they only have to be fixed to the body of the vehicle. It is understood in this respect that the components should be fixed to the vehicle top with sufficient strength to withstand the conditions of transportation. In contrast to a mesh/gripping element combination, the mechanical strengths (traction-peeling-perpendicular unhooking) of a non-woven fabric/gripping element to fix the elements would be too weak to keep all the components in place during transportation for just-in-time factories.
The present invention aims to overcome the disadvantages mentioned above by proposing a vehicle in which, on the one hand, the covering panels, for example at the vehicle top, can be positioned easily and in a stable manners covering the inner surface of the body of the vehicle and in which, on the other hand, various objects which are intended to be disposed between this covering panel and the body, for example, cables, printed circuits, flat cables or foam blocks to sound-proof the vehicle assembly and prevent the covering panel vibrating, can be fixed to the panel in a simple manner with the possibility of subsequent repositioning if the first position in which the objects have been fixed is not the correct one.